Public Programmes Team

IMMERSE is Christchurch Art Gallery's invitation to 'sink yourself into art'.
The Gallery's public programme contains a huge and diverse range of events for individuals and families alike-from lectures and artist-led floor talks to contemporary performance, music and dance. As well as one-off events, there are continuing features, such as the Cinema Classics, which profile great cinematic moments in history; the popular Conservation and Restoration series; and the International Showcase, which has featured subjects as diverse as Iranian new wave cinema, a modelled presentation on the history of the Kimono and the French-led Cartooning for Peace event.

The Gallery's Public Programmes team is Lana Coles (education and public programmes team leader) and Sarah Amazinnia (public programmes officer). Lana's background is in teaching and management, and Sarah previously ran the SPACE Contemporary Art Gallery in Christchurch. Together they have a wealth of experience in the organisation and delivery of complex and multi-faceted events programmes.
The two main threads of the programme are exhibition specific events, which aim to provide a deeper understanding of the art on show, often by taking unexpected tangents, and events and activities that provide insights into the wider world of art, be it local, national or international.

The programme aims to engage the audience on many different levels and in many different ways. Artist- or curator-led floortalks provide a human face for more challenging exhibitions, and the regular Press sponsored Wednesday night slots provide a social forum for discussions and presentations around the exhibitions programme. A glass of wine helps too.

Proposals for events can come from anywhere, and there are certainly some interesting ideas out there: many bees have emerged from unexpected bonnets. From the performer who sat in the foyer for two months, slowly sewing together the blue silk dress that transformed her into William Morris's wife Jane Burden, to the recent performance by Greek sound artist Ilios, which accompanied an image of a decapitated body at an accident scene with organ-massaging music capable of inducing diarrhoea or visions of ghosts. Challenging indeed. And for a moment of inspiration, how about the Starfish Heirloom fashion show inspired by Rita Angus's unique palette and interpretation of New Zealand landscape? For Lana and Sarah each week brings a new highlight. So why not immerse yourself – it's sure to be a rewarding experience.